A court-appointed claims administrator can continue making payments to businesses affected by the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico while BP appeals a judge's decision in a dispute over the payouts.

LSU professor Eugene Turner said the compounds are aromatics that should be venting into the atmosphere. Instead, some process is creating more of them in the soil than is being allowed to be released, he said.

In addition, Turner said, the problem is being found not just in heaviest-oiled areas but also in areas affected by small amounts.

Although preliminary results point to the two compounds, research continues, he said.